A McLaren of Psychedelic Proportions

The 2013 McLaren MP4-12C uses a 3.8-liter twin-turb0 V8 to produce 616-hp, good for 0-60 sprints of 3 seconds and a top speed somewhere north of 200-mph. It’s an engineering marvel to be sure, but some say it’s also a supercar without emotion. At least compared with its nemesis, the Ferrari 458 Italia.

How can some real feeling be injected into a car that might be compared with the nerdy-type competing in a bikini contest? Well, you have to make her look the part, obviously.

Buying a base, all-stock MP4-12C will cost upwards of $240K. That’s a lot of coin, but it gets you into a true British supercar good enough to be a daily driver. But it may lack a certain pizazz buyers of expensive cars want. Adding that pizazz is certainly possibly, and will cost around $120K more. And look like this:

What you’re looking at is Hamann Motorsports attempt to sexy-up the McLaren. What they’ve created is a driveable piece of modern art.

It’s not clear if this swirling palette of colors is a custom paint job or just a wrap applied to the body of the car, but the money also buys new wheels, new interior fabric a carbon-fiber wing and even carbon-fiber mudflaps.

For the rich folk who want their cars to draw attention, this will do it. I happen to think driving a car like this is a pompous, arrogant way to get attention and would much prefer mine the way she was meant to be. If I wanted something sexier, I’d opt for the the elegant, classy curves of a factory-direct Ferrari.

Wow, I’m really with you on this one. While I’m not a big fan of McLaren styling (I find Ferrari styling to be much more attractive) I can think of anything worse you can do to a sleek aero body than to cover it with a mass of squirming worms of color. It’s not art, it’s schlock. But at least it’s not one of those gold or chrome plated jobs that the clueless hip hoppers and Beiberoids go for.